Disclaimer: This article is not a jab to those who practice veganism, also commonly known as vegans, nor am I trying to antagonize them. Rather it’s a post explaining why our body needs meat. If you’re a vegan and don’t like to hear anything related to meat eating; then I suggest you stop reading here. But if you’re not a vegan or are someone who isn’t bother by the topic; then please keep reading.
Let There be Meat!
I think vegan diet is cool but in my opinion, it’s unnatural.
Explosive opening sentence, I know.
Now, now, put those downvotes down my vegan friends. We are all civilized people so hear me out, okay?
Humans are omnivores. Meaning, we can eat and digest both plant-based food and meat based food. That’s a fact and I’m sure even our plant-eating vegan friend would agree to it.
But why do we need to eat meat, you ask?
The reason we need to eat meat was because there are nutrients that our body needed that are mostly present in meat but barely present in plants.
No, no, I’m not referring to just protein here. Although proteins are found largely in meat, it can also be found in some fruits and vegetables, just not in comparable quantity compared to meat.
Don’t misunderstood though. It’s not a win for the vegans and vegetarians.
Although protein can also be found in fruits and vegetables, the amount is not enough to support the need of the body. Even if you eat a large amount of fruits and vegetables in one sitting, it still won’t be enough.
That’s one of the reasons why vegans need to take pills to supplement what was lacking in their diet. And is also the main reason why I think vegan diet is unnatural.
Okay, back to the nutrients necessary to our body that was mostly found in meat.
Nutrients Be With You!
Vitamin B12
The vitamin B12 that our body needed primarily came from animal based food source like eggs, dairy products and meat. In plants there’s another kind of vitamin B12 known as bioactive vitamin B12.
Bioactive vitamin B12 can be found in seaweeds, mushrooms, and algae but the problem was that bioactive vitamin B12 found in the aforementioned items does not function in the human body the same way that vitamin B12 found in meat function.
Not to mention that the amount of bioactive vitamin B12 in those items is not enough even if you consume large amounts of said items. Meaning, if you rely to those items for bioactive vitamin B12 you will suffer vitamin B12 deficiency.
Vitamin B12 is essential for the development of red blood cells and helps maintain nerves and normal brain functions. Insufficient vitamin B12 could result to vitamin B12 deficiency of which the risk and symptoms includes: Impaired brain function, neurological disorder, psychiatric disorder, fatigue, and possibly even Alzheimer’s and heart disease
Creatine
Creatine is a nutrient exclusively found in animal tissues, and not in plants. As such the only way for vegans and vegetarians to obtain creatine is through food supplements.
It’s a nutrient that greatly affects muscle developmen so deficiency in creatine could have serious consequences in the body.
Creatine is mostly store in the muscles but a large amount of it is also stored in the brain. The stored creatin also functions as energy reserve for the muscles.
Although creatine is naturally produced in the liver, studies had shown that those who do not consume meat or take supplements have lower amount of creatine in their muscles.
Carnosine
Carnosine is very similar to creatine as it mainly affects muscle building and development. Like creatine, carnosine is exclusively found in animal tissues. And like creatine, carnosine is naturally produced by the body through the formation of amino acid histidine and beta-alanine.
And although carnosine was considered non-essential due to the fact that our body can naturally produce it; those who refused to eat animal-based product were found to have lower level of carnosine in the body.
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol)
Although not exclusive only to animal sources as vitamin D3 could also be acquired through exposure to sunlight, and some plants, the best vitamin D3 that our body needs came from animal sources like fatty fish and egg yolks.
The ergocalciferol, or vitamin D2 that could be acquired from plant based sources Is less efficient to the human body compared to cholecalciferol.
Vegans and vegetarians are highly susceptible to vitamin D3 deficiency because cholecalcoferol are not found in plant based sources. So in order for them to address this issue they must take suppliments.
Studies suggest that vitamin D3 deficiency is linked to various adverse conditions and high risked diseases like: Cancer, heart diseases, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, depression, impaired brain functions, and muscle wasting.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential nutrient (omega-3 fatty acids) found mainly in fatty fish, fish oil, and certain microalgae. ALA, another omega-3 fatty acid can also be found in flax seeds and walnuts but cannot be efficiently converted by our body to DHA.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is essential for mental health and brain development. Insufficient DHA could lead to mental health problems and could affect the brain development of children. DHA deficiency in pregnant women could also affect fetal brain development.
Heme Iron
Heme iron is a type of essential nutrient found only in animal based products like red meat. Plants have “similar” iron nutrient too called non-heme iron that has poor absorption in comparison to heme iron.
What’s ironic though was that heme iron could actually improve the absorption of non heme iron. It was as if our bodies actually need to consume animal based products to improve the nutrients of plant based products. Oh right, It does…
As most people knew by now, the lack of iron often leads to anemia that could be dangerous if left unaddressed. Fortunately for our vegan and vegetarian friends, preparing iron rich diet is actually easy.
Taurine
Taurine, a sulfur compound is a nutrient that could only be found in animal based products like meat, fish, poultry, etc. The reason why taurine was considered non-essential nutrient was because our body could produce a small amount of it.
But despite this, our bodies still need to maintain a sufficient level of taurine in order to avoid complications. Although the function of taurine was not entirely clear, it was believed to play a role in muscle functions, bile salt formation, and antioxidant defenses.
Vegans and vegetarians has lower level of taurine compared to meat eaters and therefore need to consume supplements in order to compensate for what their body was lacking.
My Thoughts
What I’ve written in this article was fairly basic knowledge. But despite this, it’s still easy to see why meat plays such an important role in our diet.
If we remove meat in our diet without compensating them with nutrient supplements, our body could easily fall apart.
The fact that vegans and vegetarians needed to use supplements in order to compensate for the nutrients that they might lack due to foregoing meat is testament to why it’s a practice that was against the natural order.
Certainly, many would argue that by consuming supplements they’re saving the lives of animals that would be killed for food. And I admit they have a point.
But…That’s not entirely true either.
In order to produce the fruits and vegetables that we enjoy today, we’re actually killing a great number of animals and insects. It’s called secondary effect.
Are you aware how many worms, insects, rabbits, rats, ferrets, and other animals and insects we considered pest because they destroy our crops were killed every year? Millions, maybe even tens of millions.
Honestly, I really have nothing against vegans and vegetarians. In my opinion, they’re great people and I respect their choice to forego animals based food products.
But at the same time, I hope that they would respect the choice of us meat eaters too and not forcefully push their beliefs on us.
Thank you for reading.
All Images Used in this Article are Royalty-Free Images from Pixabay
