Vegetarians are smarter than meat eaters

[turbo]

Also, don't forget that meat obtained from hunting wild animals is often much leaner than that obtained from farm-raised animals, so if you're eating what you hunt, you can avoid a lot of the problems that come from eating very fat, farm-raised animals. Of course, the farm-raised animals are bred that way because that's what the consumer prefers. In some animals, like pigs, more demand for leaner meats have spurred on a shift in the breeding practices to produce leaner animals (though, there's also still plenty of a market for the fatty versions). It's not meat, per se, that's the problem, but overconsumption of the fat in the meat (and overconsumption of food in general).

There's probably a big difference in the quality of the fat, too. It's likely that whale blubber is far healthier for you than the intramuscular fats and suets from beef and pork. Certainly the fish oils from cod, salmon, etc are beneficial to those Inuit who have diets high in cold-water fish.

 

[Skyhunter]

We evolved as omnivores and our bodies are optimized for a hunter-gatherer diet. Before agrarian societies developed, and some people stayed tied to the land, with facilities for storing food (granaries, etc), the availability of vegetables and grain as food was not very reliable. Anybody who would not eat mammals, fish, birds, amphibians and insects, as well as the eggs and larvae of such would probably not have survived. At the least, their need for protein and some minerals and other nutrients would not have been met, putting them a disadvantage.

The Inuit have survived for many generations on a diet that is predominantly meat, fat, and fish, with blueberries and other vegetable additions as available. Until recently, with the introduction of foods from our western/temperate diet, they had a very low incidence of arteriosclerosis and other diseases we usually associate with a high-fat diet. Depending on where they live and what is available as prey, they may eat mostly fish or mostly marine mammals, caribou, etc. The common factor in their diet is that until recently, vegetables were very scarce and only available seasonally.

Have you seen http://www.bizarro.com/videos/mov/VeganVideoWeb.mov

[Edit]It is amusing as well as educational.[/edit]

No doubt in an environment of scarcity, almost anything organic can and will be eaten by a human. We are very highly adapted to eat a very varied diet. Diet in an affluent country is completely a matter of choice. Our body can metabolize a myriad of different foods, both plant and animal. But the question is what are we optimized for?

The answer to me is obvious. Eating meat is like putting kerosene in your gas tank. Your car/body will still run, but not as efficiently.

 

[Skyhunter]

There's probably a big difference in the quality of the fat, too. It's likely that whale blubber is far healthier for you than the intramuscular fats and suets from beef and pork. Certainly the fish oils from cod, salmon, etc are beneficial to those Inuit who have diets high in cold-water fish.

On fat, specifically omega-3 to omega-6 ratios. It is this ratio that has the most statistically significant relationship to heart disease. People with high levels of omega-6 are at risk for heart disease, but if they also have high levels of omega-3s the risk is greatly reduced.

 

[Skyhunter]

There's just so much pride in these sorts of lifestyle choices that people champion the label to make themselves feel righteous.

I would not necessarily call it pride. There is a bias toward vegetarians and vegans. I can't tell you how many times when I have told someone I was vegan that they apologize for no apparent reason.

I once asked the waitress at a midwestern restaurant if the vegetable soup had a beef base. She told me it was a vegetable base, so I ordered it. When it arrived there was a big chunk of beef in the center of the bowl. When I sent it back she just rolled her eyes and lost her tip.

Being vegan puts one in an extreme minority. Maybe we need some affirmative action for vegans.

 

[Skyhunter]

About the study.

Did anyone find it ironic that the smartest people in the study were those who ate fish and chicken. Yet mistakenly considered themselves to be vegetarians?

This study actually may say more about the intelligence of the people in Great Britain.

[shrug] I'm just saying, something not adding up here.

 

[Moonbear]

The answer to me is obvious. Eating meat is like putting kerosene in your gas tank. Your car/body will still run, but not as efficiently.

I don't know why you come to that conclusion. Meat is more efficient than vegetables for us to digest and use. You wouldn't expect that hunters would get meat daily, nor are fruits and vegetables available year round in temperate climates. In winter, those deer are better at digesting twigs than we are, so it makes sense to eat the deer meat, but in summer, we might find it costs more energy to obtain meat than to just pick the ripe berries off the bushes. A varied diet is what we are most "optimized" to eat.

 

[Moonbear]

About the study.

Did anyone find it ironic that the smartest people in the study were those who ate fish and chicken. Yet mistakenly considered themselves to be vegetarians?

This study actually may say more about the intelligence of the people in Great Britain.

[shrug] I'm just saying, something not adding up here.

Yeah, I had noticed that, which is why I mentioned a while ago that it really should have concluded there were no differences. You mentioned observer bias when we were joking about the vegans in the study, but the entire study seems to be an example of observer bias, trying to push that a vegetarian diet is somehow linked to intelligence, yet overtly dismisses the fact that a subset of their "vegetarians" weren't vegetarian at all.

 

[Quaoar]

I would not necessarily call it pride. There is a bias toward vegetarians and vegans. I can't tell you how many times when I have told someone I was vegan that they apologize for no apparent reason.

I once asked the waitress at a midwestern restaurant if the vegetable soup had a beef base. She told me it was a vegetable base, so I ordered it. When it arrived there was a big chunk of beef in the center of the bowl. When I sent it back she just rolled her eyes and lost her tip.

Being vegan puts one in an extreme minority. Maybe we need some affirmative action for vegans.

Frankly I think the problem is just crappy service in the food industry in general. I'm not a fan of tomatoes, and I usually ask for "no tomatoes" on most things I order. I would say that 10-15% of the time, I get tomatoes anyway. I don't think there's any particular bias against people who ask for no meat products (other than ignorance in what is a meat product). It sounds to me like that waitress was just too lazy/stupid to communicate what you really wanted with the chef.

Anyhow, the problem with simple rules is that they're usually not the best for your health. The key emphasis should be on moderation, not abstinence. Unfortunately, most people find it very difficult to moderate themselves because they can't track the quantity of each type of food they consume. It's much easier to track that "I have eaten 0 lbs meat this month" than "I have eaten 1 lb of meat this month."

 

[Skyhunter]

I don't know why you come to that conclusion. Meat is more efficient than vegetables for us to digest and use. You wouldn't expect that hunters would get meat daily, nor are fruits and vegetables available year round in temperate climates. In winter, those deer are better at digesting twigs than we are, so it makes sense to eat the deer meat, but in summer, we might find it costs more energy to obtain meat than to just pick the ripe berries off the bushes. A varied diet is what we are most "optimized" to eat.

Not more efficient to digest. Carnivores have short smooth intestines and stomach acids 20 times stronger than ours. Our intestines are long and rough, much more suited for a high fiber diet. There is zero fiber in meat.

Probably the most significant, immediate change that one notices when they switch to a plant based diet is the regularity of bowel movements. it is not at all uncommon for a vegan to have a bowel movement shortly after each meal. Most people that eat a meat based diet are lucky to have one a day.

Perhaps more efficient to use, meat does have more calories, so for short term energy needs, especially in colder temperatures, meat is a better source of dense calories. And like I said before, humans are highly adapted to survive in multiple environments, eating many different foods. Our bodies produce an enzyme that has no other obvious purpose but than to aid in the degestion of meat. The most extensive studies in regard to health and diet however all agree that a diet where less than 10% of the calories come from animal foods are optimum.

[edit]
I define a plant based diet as one consisting of whole plant foods, not processed.
[/edit]

 

[Moonbear]

Not more efficient to digest. Carnivores have short smooth intestines and stomach acids 20 times stronger than ours. Our intestines are long and rough, much more suited for a high fiber diet. There is zero fiber in meat.

We don't digest fiber. Our intestine has neither a functional cecum (just a non-functional appendix) nor a rumen, which herbivores capable of digesting fiber has.

Probably the most significant, immediate change that one notices when they switch to a plant based diet is the regularity of bowel movements. it is not at all uncommon for a vegan to have a bowel movement shortly after each meal. Most people that eat a meat based diet are lucky to have one a day.

More frequent bowel movements aren't an indicator of better efficiency, it's an indicator of more waste! All that undigestible fiber runs right through the digestive system quickly rather than being utilized.

 

[ShawnD]

Idiocy is not the realm of diet. If you wish to make such an offensive ad hominem attack you should provide some evidence to support your point.

Iodine deficiency:
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/iodine.php

About half the iodine consumption in the UK comes from dairy products. In the US iodised salt is widely used and some other foods are fortified with iodine. In Canada all table salt is iodized. The UK has no iodine fortification strategy for plant foods or salt.

You'll need to take supplements for iodine if you live in the UK or any other country in the world that does not have iodized salt.

And down 1 paragraph from that

Consumption of brassicas, such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, increase the requirements for iodine, especially if consumed raw. Soy beans, raw flaxseed, cassava (used in tapioca), sweet potatoes, lima beans, maize and millet also increase the requirements for iodine.

That's interesting. Now that you are consuming less iodine, the vegetables increase the body's demand for iodine.

Calcium:
The majority of calcium and magnesium for meat eaters and non-vegan vegetarians comes from milk and cheese. For vegans, it comes from nuts and calcium pills.

Essential Amino Acids:
Essential means it is needed by humans but cannot be produced by humans. The greatest sources of other protein building blocks (amino acids) are other creatures made of protein, such as birds, bovine, and fish. Essential amino acids are also found in certain types of plant oil.

Iron:
All animals require iron, so eating anything from an animal will have iron in it, including milk. Vegans need to each spinach or take supplements.

Vitamin B12:
Vegans need to take more pills for this one.

Vitamin D:
Another vitamin found in all animals. Vegans do not consume animals, so they rely on supplements.


Now for the question of how to fill each of these crucial health demands. A normal vegetarian can get all of these from drinking a glass of milk. A vegan needs to eat the following things:
-iodine supplement
-nuts
-flaxseed oil
-spinach
-Vitamin B12 supplement
-Vitamin D supplement

Simple vegetarianism is easy; replace meat with beans. Going vegan should probably set off a few alarms when you realize you need to research how not to become sick while following a particular diet.

 

[ShawnD]

To start with you do not get carbs from meat, so this point is meaningless.

Show me the exact line where I said meat contains carbs.

Milk does not have a lot of good things in it. More than half of it's calories come from saturated fats.

Most of its calories are from fat because it contains very few calories, and ordinary cow milk you buy at a store is 1,2, or 3% fat(homo is ~3% give or take). 3% fat means it's 97% water. What percentage of orange juice is water? Probably about the same thing, but juice contains carbs instead of fats; not all that different really.

7 out of 10 people are lactose intolerant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance
12% of Americans

Since bone is metabolically more active than muscle, I think that physical activity may play a more important role than diet. Vegans are generally more active, especially in their later years than meat eaters.

This seems reasonable. Anybody who puts major planning into their diet would probably put that same kind of planning towards other things.

 

[GCT]

According to recent study, vegetarians average 5 IQ points higher than meat chompers.



But I already knew that.

Again, more waste of valuable research funds

 

[turbo]

Probably the most significant, immediate change that one notices when they switch to a plant based diet is the regularity of bowel movements. it is not at all uncommon for a vegan to have a bowel movement shortly after each meal. Most people that eat a meat based diet are lucky to have one a day.

Perhaps you should compare this with the bowel movements of a rabbit or a deer, both of which drop feces very regularly as they eat. This isn't rocket-science!

 

[Skyhunter]

We don't digest fiber. Our intestine has neither a functional cecum (just a non-functional appendix) nor a rumen, which herbivores capable of digesting fiber has.

I wasn't suggesting that we can. My point was that our intestinal tract is better suited to a high fiber diet.

More frequent bowel movements aren't an indicator of better efficiency, it's an indicator of more waste! All that undigestible fiber runs right through the digestive system quickly rather than being utilized.

The undigested meat gets stuck on the irregular surface of the inner walls of the colon and does what old meat does, it rots.

The fiber however is essential to keeping the digestive tract clean and operating at peak efficiency.

But don't take my word for it.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3225/is_n3_v45/ai_12026562

3. Include a variety of vegetables and fruits in the daily diet. Vegetables and fruits contain varying amounts of vitamins, minerals, fiber and non-nutritive constituents, which, consumed alone or in combination, may be responsible for reducing cancer risk.

4. Eat more food high in dietary fiber, such as whole-grain cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruits. A high-fiber diet may reduce the risk of colon cancer. Even if specific types of fiber may not ultimately prove to have a direct protective effect against cancer, high-fiber vegetables, fruits and cereals can be recommended as wholesome low-calorie substitutes for high-calorie fatty foods.

When I eat a proper amount of plant based food, to maintain optimum health, as recommended by the American Cancer Society, I find I have no room left for the charred flesh of a dead animal.

 

[russ_watters]

When I eat a proper amount of plant based food, to maintain optimum health, as recommended by the American Cancer Society, I find I have no room left for the charred flesh of a dead animal.

So...how is overfilling yourself a sign of efficiency?

 

[Skyhunter]

Iodine deficiency:
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/iodine.php


You'll need to take supplements for iodine if you live in the UK or any other country in the world that does not have iodized salt.

And down 1 paragraph from that

That's interesting. Now that you are consuming less iodine, the vegetables increase the body's demand for iodine.

Iodine content in fruits and vegetables depends on the soil in which they are grown. The iodine in milk comes from feed supplements and disinfectants.

I don't take supplements, and the little salt I put in my food is sea salt which contains iodine. I like to toast seaweed and crumble it over top of my salad. Thereby easily satisfying my RDA of iodine.

Calcium:
The majority of calcium and magnesium for meat eaters and non-vegan vegetarians comes from milk and cheese. For vegans, it comes from nuts and calcium pills.

Where you get calcium is just as important as how much. Look back at the USDA osteoperosis study I posted,(courtesy your suggestion) higher intake of calcium by omnivores did not increase bone growth. In fact studies suggest that the higher acidity of the animal based foods can actually lead to a net loss of bone mass.

As for plant based sources for calcium;
Here is a good resource.

Essential means it is needed by humans but cannot be produced by humans. The greatest sources of other protein building blocks (amino acids) are other creatures made of protein, such as birds, bovine, and fish. Essential amino acids are also found in certain types of plant oil.

The nine essential amino acids are also found in plant foods. Not all plant foods are complete, (contain all nine) but as long as you are getting enough calories and eat a variety of foods there is no need to concern oneself with getting enough protein.

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm

It is very easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein, as long as calorie intake is adequate. Strict protein combining is not necessary; it is more important to eat a varied diet throughout the day.

To much protein is more likely to cause health problems than too little. To my knowledge, there is not a single medical case of someone suffering a protein deficiency, while still consuming adequate calories.

Another interesting point about protein.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache...er+cancer+connection&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2

High protein intakes of 20 to 25 percent of calories may enhance tumor growth whereas low protein levels suppress it.

Note, when the protein is plant based, high level intake of protein does not enhance tumor growth.

Iron:
All animals require iron, so eating anything from an animal will have iron in it, including milk. Vegans need to each spinach or take supplements.

There are many other good sources of iron for vegans besides spinach. Not that I don't eat my share of spinach.

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/iron.html

Good sources of iron for vegetarians include wholegrain cereals and flours, leafy green vegetables, blackstrap molasses, pulses such as lentils and kidney beans, and some dried fruits.

Despite iron from plant foods being less readily absorbed research has shown that vegetarians are no more likely to suffer from iron deficiency than non-vegetarians. Draper & Wheeler (1989) have stated there is no indication of increased prevalence of iron deficiency amongst vegetarians. Anderson (1981) found the iron status of long-term vegetarian women to be adequate, despite a high intake of fibre and phytate.

Vitamin B12:
Vegans need to take more pills for this one.

Wrong again, although many dietitians recommend B12 supplements they are not necessary. Rice milk and Soy milk are both supplemented with B12. However I get my B12 from nutritional yeast, which when mixed with ground walnuts makes a very tasty and nutritional substitute for parmesan cheese.

Dirt is also a very good source of B12, but I dropped that from my diet when I was two or three years old. Although I still sometimes eat fresh roots with only a cursory rinsing.

Vitamin D:
Another vitamin found in all animals. Vegans do not consume animals, so they rely on supplements.

Once again I cannot see this as a good reason to slaughter a living creature. There are far more benign ways to get ones RDA of vitamin D.

Me, I like the sun.

http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

Sun exposure is perhaps the most important source of vitamin D because exposure to sunlight provides most humans with their vitamin D requirement

Now for the question of how to fill each of these crucial health demands. A normal vegetarian can get all of these from drinking a glass of milk.

And what else are they getting with that glass of milk.

Amazing I went to the http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/NationalDairyCouncil/

I had to go navigate through five pages of milk promotion in order to get to what I thought would be nutritional information. Where I arrived finally was http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/NationalDairyCouncil/Nutrition/Products/MilksNutrientPackage.htm Another slick milk promo.

Fortunately I was able to find much better sources of information. The http://www.fns.usda.gov/TN/Resources/Nibbles/for_bones.pdf Not that they are particularly better in practice, but at least they are more honest about the nutrition information. If you read the top of the three labels, and what has been circled in red, you see in a word what is wrong with milk. Fat, and lots of it.

Anyone who thinks that milk does a body good should read this;

http://www.rense.com/general26/milk.htm

Yes... milk is Mother Nature's "perfect food" ...for a calf... until it is weaned.

Everything you know about cow's milk and dairy is probably part of a Dairy industry MYTH.

Cow's milk is an unhealthy fluid from diseased animals that contains a wide range of dangerous and disease-causing substances that have a cumulative negative effect on all who consume it.

Here is what the http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/dairy.html has to say about milk.

Milk and dairy products are not necessary in the diet and can, in fact, be harmful to your health. Consume a healthful diet of grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and fortified foods including cereals and juices. These nutrient-dense foods can help you meet your calcium, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamin D requirements with ease—and without the health risks.

One can look further, there are a myriad of studies that demonstrate the adverse health effects of milk.

A vegan needs to eat the following things:
-iodine supplement
-nuts
-flaxseed oil
-spinach
-Vitamin B12 supplement
-Vitamin D supplement

The iodine in milk is derived from feed supplements and/or disinfectant residue left on the milking equipment.

No thanks I will get mine from seaweed.

Nuts are fine, I eat those. I use fresh ground flaxseed, not the oil, and spinach I eat all the time.

None of the supplements are necessary or desirable. I am not certain that supplements are even absorbed by the body. I suspect that the largest portion of these so called supplements just get flushed down a urinal.

Simple vegetarianism is easy; replace meat with beans. Going vegan should probably set off a few alarms when you realize you need to research how not to become sick while following a particular diet.

Must say I heartily agree with you about researching what you eat. In fact I think this post is a good example of some of that reseaerch.

I was about 20 - 25lbs overweight, and decided to stop eating meat. I figured, I am going to give up a vital portion of my diet, so I need to research what I need to replace it with. It was as a result of that research that I decided vegan was better, because dairy has even greater side effects than lean meats. As a consequence of my decision, I am now enjoying the best health of my lifetime.

Another person who became vegan after doing some research. T. Colin Campbell, author of "The China Study".

He grew up on a dairy farm and did his college thesis on raising beef more efficiently.

Campbell is a remarkable man, he has been involved in nutrition research at the highest levels for 50 years. He has headed up 70 years (simultaneous research) worth of research funded by the National Institute of Health and other public health institutions. He switched to a whole foods plant based diet 15 or so years ago.

Here is an 11 minute http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/campbell_qa_expo.htm excerpt of a Q&A after one of his presentations.

Here is one of his latest presentations on cancer, the primary field of focus for the research he has done.

http://www.vegsource.com/video/colin.wmv.htm

 

[MeJennifer]

I've never understood vegetarians:
How can they prefer a wilted piece of salad to a tasty piece of meat?

It is really not hard to understand arildno.
Do you think eating is all about satisfying desires?

The primary function of eating is getting essential nutrients for your body. That it satisfies your desires is a plus but not the primary function.

I do not eat meat but I do eat occasionally fish, I think that is the best diet, primarily vegetarian substituted with fish.

 

[Skyhunter]

Show me the exact line where I said meat contains carbs.

You did not, I discarded carbs as irrelevant to your point and therefore unnecessary of further comment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance
12% of Americans

Here is a better explanation for what I am meant by lactose intolerance.

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/dairy.html

Lactose intolerance is common among many populations, affecting approximately 95 percent of Asian Americans, 74 percent of Native Americans, 70 percent of African Americans, 53 percent of Mexican Americans, and 15 percent of Caucasians.19 Symptoms, which include gastrointestinal distress, diarrhea, and flatulence, occur because these individuals do not have the enzymes that digest the milk sugar lactose. Additionally, along with unwanted symptoms, milk-drinkers are also putting themselves at risk for development of other chronic diseases and ailments.

This seems reasonable. Anybody who puts major planning into their diet would probably put that same kind of planning towards other things.

It really does not require much planning at all.

The basic guidelines I follow are:

1: Plant based
2: Unprocessed (whole food)
3: Variety, including a variety of colors.
4: Conciously eat food with certain micronutrients that are not abundant in plant foods, like iodine, B12, and Omega-3 fats.

 

[Skyhunter]

So...how is overfilling yourself a sign of efficiency?

Did I say I ate more than my fill?

No, I clearly said proper amount. Which BTW is not at all overfilling, digests quickly, and gives me lots of energy for work and play.

 

[Skyhunter]

I do not eat meat but I do eat occasionally fish, I think that is the best diet, primarily vegetarian substituted with fish.

Good for you.

So you are one of the smart ones in the study.

I think you will especially find Cambells lectures to be interesting.

 

[Danger]

When I eat a proper amount of plant based food... ...I find I have no room left for the charred flesh of a dead animal.

This is precisely why I always refuse a starter salad.

 

[turbo]

This is precisely why I always refuse a starter salad.

Me, too! Well space considerations and the threat of E. coli. Pass those ribs, you hog!

 

[pace]

Anyway, I think we can conclude with that statistics are really annoying.

 

[DaveC426913]

... the little salt I put in my food is sea salt which contains iodine...

You sure about that?

I buy sea salt for the sole reason that it does NOT have iodine in it. It's what you need for fish tanks (freshwater).

To get salt with iodine, you have to buy iodized salt.

 

[Skyhunter]

You sure about that?

I buy sea salt for the sole reason that it does NOT have iodine in it. It's what you need for fish tanks (freshwater).

To get salt with iodine, you have to buy iodized salt.

I think you might be right. I don't have the container anymore to check the ingredients. I do seem to vaguely remember having this discussion once and I think that you are right in that.

Iodine is not a particular concern since the seaweed I eat is quite an adequate source. I rarely add salt to anything I prepare or eat.

 

[lunarmansion]

One cannot compare the I.Q's of vegetarians and meat eaters, but some famous men were vegetarians. I was a complete vegetarian for three years-I could not keep up with it because of a hectic life style-I did not have time to cook proper vegetarian food, but I can tell you that your body feels incredibly light somehow-not from lack of strength. But vegans I cannot understand. I do not think I can exist without yogurt and cheese. I now eat fish and white meat and sometimes red but I might want to go back to stop eating meat when I have a less hectic lifestyle and can cook more. It is not for everyone. It is hard to imagine people in cold northern countries not eating meat historically, it was too cold for them to be vegetarians- it is not a wonder that vegetarianism arose in places with a mild climate.

 

[Chi Meson]

Erm...

Isaac Newton, vegetarian? Let's check from the mouths of the cabbage-chewers themselves...
http://www.ivu.org/history/renaissance/Newton.html

And Einstein? Same source:
http://www.ivu.org/history/northam20a/einstein.html

 

[lunarmansion]

Well it could be that they were not. It was just a site I thought was curious considering the names-but probably not a reliable site, as is with the case with such sites. I have been a meat eater and eat meat now and was a complete vegetarian for about three years-I can tell you, there is something to it and it is not for everyone-I stopped because my lifestyle did not permit it and I think I might like to return to it someday if I am able to cook more. Your body does feel somehow light and different in my experience as a vegetarian. Vegetarianism is there for those who want to be vegetarian-I just don't like it when people insist on it for others. It is as if one were to insist everyone has to eat meat. I do know for sure that Shaw was a vegetarian as well as Thoreau and Emerson. It was an interesting experience being a complete vegetarian for me for three years-a good experiment on my body and mind in terms of the effects of food, that is all I can say. Even the Buddha is said by some sources to have died after eating a hearty dish of pork! So it is all a matter of individual preference. As with everything, it becomes annoying when people begin to insist upon it for everyone, for it is not for everyone.
I think the new age types ruin ruin it-traditionally vegetarianism arose from trying to abstain from cruelty to animals as is possible, a nice ideal and for a desire for purity in food. It is the same with yoga-in its original form it was associated with spiritual endeavors, but now is just gymnastics for most people. My favorite vegetarians were Pythagoras, and Leonardo, Francis of Assisi.

 

[Chi Meson]

^
I agree mostly.
I was also a vegetarian for "economic" reasons for about three years. It was a hassle that was made less problematic since my house-mate was a strict vegetarian and knew all the tricks.

Basically, I got really tired of hummos. And the farting.