Top 10 Best Reasons to Be a Vegetarian

You've probably heard it from a friend, seen it in a documentary, or read it on a restaurant menu that suddenly has five tofu options. Going vegetarian is more than just a trend. It's a choice packed with purpose. Maybe you're already skipping steak for salads or you're just veggie-curious and dipping your toes into Meatless Mondays. Either way, this list is here to sort through the reasons people give up meat and stick with it.

Some do it for ethical reasons, wanting nothing to do with factory farms or the suffering that goes into turning living creatures into lunch. Others are eyeing their cholesterol levels and think it might be time to let go of bacon before bacon lets go of them.

There are environmental thinkers, convinced that cutting out meat is one of the strongest things you can do for the planet without chaining yourself to a tree. And of course, there are those who just think meat smells like wet dog and tastes even worse.

Whatever your motivation, this list is built by real people with real opinions. Click the reasons that speak to you.

1. For the Animals

   I LOVE animals, and I believe eating meat is wrong. Amen to "Think to yourself, how is it any different eating a pig/cow than eating your dog or cat?" Meat may be good, but we don't have to have it, right?

   Please think about this. I'm not telling you to stop eating meat or keep eating meat. That's your choice, not mine. It's your life, not mine. But remember, all lives matter. Even animals' lives matter just as much as yours, mine, your family's, or anybody's life matters to you or me.

   Please think about this. Thank you, and have a good day, night, evening, or afternoon, wherever you are. Just have a good one. Bye.

   Wolfie11

   Okay, so listen to this. Eight billion animals are killed in just the UK every year.

   Twenty-two million are slaughtered every day.

   Nine hundred nineteen thousand are slaughtered every hour.

   Fifteen thousand are slaughtered every minute.

   Two hundred fifty-five are slaughtered every second.

   So by the time you've read this, around fifteen thousand animals will have been slaughtered.

   Just think about that.

2. For the Environment

   The Worldwatch Institute said that animal agriculture releases 51% of the greenhouse gases, which is just under four times the amount released by all modes of transportation combined.

   Photosynthesis works by taking in carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen and glucose with the help of light energy and chlorophyll. So it actually removes carbon dioxide, thus releasing less carbon dioxide than animals.

   This is really the biggest reason I stay veggie nowadays. Meat is absolutely horrific for the environment. It emits the same amount of greenhouse gases as all transportation (cars, buses, trains). It takes up land in the U.S. and destroys that land over time too.

3. You Don't Need Meat

   The way I see it, we are fortunate enough to be able to live well without meat. So why continue eating something with essentially zero upsides in the long run?

   Humans used to have to eat meat because it was high in calories, and we needed to feed our brains. We can get those calories elsewhere now, and it will be significantly better for our health.

   The main point. But then for us humans, it's all a matter of good taste. Temptation sure is a bad thing.

   Being vegetarian isn't hard. Preventing yourself from yielding to the temptation of tasting good meat is what is actually hard. That's coming from a vegetarian.

4. For Your Health

   Specifically, we have dramatically reduced chances of getting various cancers, cardiovascular disease, heart disease, liver failure, and so on. Vegetarians live an average of nine years longer than our meat-eating counterparts.

   Meat eaters tend to consume too much protein, which won't add muscle. It'll add fat. Also, a vegetarian's or vegan's risk for a heart attack decreases. Additionally, vegetarians and vegans live longer.

   This is a good reason. I lost a hundred grams by eating a lot of vegetables for just a few days!

5. For Starving Kids

   We deport grain and other foods for the slaughterhouse animals from places like Africa. If we shut down slaughterhouses, cows, sheep, pigs, and the like would provide for themselves and live a long life of freedom, and the grain would be given to kids to eat.

   We currently produce enough grains to feed 11,000,000,000 people. The 1,000,000,000 people who are starving are due to the fact that our grain goes to fatten up farm animals instead.

6. To Enjoy Vegetarian Food

   Being a vegetarian gives you a bigger chance to experience the amazing vegetarian food, and it's a lot better than meat.

7. Meat Is Disgusting

   Do you know what is in those things? Dregs of pork, beef, and chicken being ground together, reduced quite literally to a pulp, and then re-formed into a dog. My gut churns at the thought of chickens, pigs, and cows being put together.

   Honestly, I used to love meat when I was younger. About a month after I turned 13, I started to notice it didn't taste good anymore. I'm 15 now, and I've never eaten meat since then.

   Meat is the worst food ever! My entire family eats meat except me, and I'm perfectly fine with that. It's their choice.

8. Our Body Is Designed for a Vegetarian Diet

   There's more than that. Back in the day, we had to quickly adapt to eating meat because our large brains demand so much energy, so we had to eat meat to survive. Yet our bodies never quite caught up. Our intestines and bowels aren't made to eat meat.

   If we were true omnivores, we would be able to eat meat without having to cook it or cover it in plant sauces to make it edible. Our teeth are identical to herbivores in nature (including our basically useless canines). As previously noted, meat is bad for our bodies. We can eat meat, but we're not made to.

   Our flat teeth are good for grinding grain and vegetables, not flesh. Our hands are good for gathering vegetables and fruit, not tearing apart animals. Not to mention, our saliva contains the enzyme alpha-amylase, the sole purpose of which is to digest the complex carbohydrates in plant foods. (This enzyme is not found in the saliva of carnivores.)

   Basically, we have all the right apparatus to consume vegetarian products and none of the right apparatus for flesh foods.

9. Awesome Vegetarians Out There

   This includes Abraham Lincoln and Gandhi, two men who changed the world for the better.

10. Allergic to Dairy

The Contenders

11. Processed Meat Is Fattening