I disagree that this is as obvious as you put it. Sure, you hear in the media all the time that red meat is going to increase your mortality rate (and its almost always red meat by the by, chicken and fish rarely if ever get called out as health hazards). However, the media will always publish headlines that sound flashy and enticing. I've seen studies here and there that would end up with a headline of "No, red meat is fine", but they never make it into mainstream media because, unfortunately, they don't catch reader's attentions. From what I've researched, it seems like eating small amounts of red meat is perfectly fine, and may actually be healthier than eating no red meat at all, (so long as its not processes red meat like bacon or ham). Even assuming that all of the health risks I've read about are 100% true, they only seem to equate to ~2 years off your total lifestyle, which isn't exactly a shocking number. If I only hit 85 instead of 87, oh well.
Every one of the following is backed up with scientific, peer-reviewed studies:
Personal Health
High fat plus cholesterol. Animal foods are higher in fat than most plant foods, particularly saturated fats. Plants do not contain cholesterol.
Agricultural Chemicals. Being higher on the food chain, animal foods contain far higher concentrations of agricultural chemicals than plant foods, including pesticides, herbicides, etc.
Exposure to livestock drugs. There are over 20,000 different drugs, including sterols, antibiotics, growth hormones and other veterinary drugs that are given to livestock animals. These drugs are consumed when animal foods are consumed. The dangers herein, in secondary consumption of antibiotics, are well documented.
Pathogenic Microorganisms. There are a host of bacteria and viruses, some quite dangerous, that are common to animals. When I eat meat, I eat the organisms in the meat. Micro-organisms are present in plant foods too, but their number and danger to human health is by no means comparable to that of those in meat.
Worms and other Parasites. Ditto on # 13!
Shelf life differential. Plant foods last longer than animal foods. Try this experiment: Leave out a head of lettuce and a pound of hamburger for 1 day, which will make you sick?
Organoleptic Indications of Pathenogens. Plant foods give tell-tale signs of "going bad". Ever hear of someone getting sick from "bad broccoli"?
Heart Disease. Meat eating increases the risk of heart disease, this country's #1 killer. The correlation is an epidemiological fact. Cancer prevention. Of all the natural cancer prevention substances found: vitamin C, B-17, hydroquionenes, beta carotene, NDGA, - none has been found to be animal derived. Yet most meats, when cooked, produce an array of benzenes and other carcinogenic compounds. Cancer is infinitely easier to prevent than cure. Soybeans contain protease inhibitor, a powerful anticancer compound. You won't find it in useful quantities in animal based food.
Disease Inducing. The correlation between meat consumption and a wide range of degenerative diseases is well founded and includes.....
Osteoporosis
Kidney Stones and Gallstones
Diabetes
Multiple Sclerosis
Arthritis
Gum disease
Acne. Aggravated by animal food.
Obesity. Studies confirm that vegetarians tend to be thinner than meat eaters. Obesity is considered by doctors to be a disease within itself.
Intestinal Toxemia. The condition of the intestinal flora is critical to overall health. Animal products putrefy the colon.
Transit time. Wholesome food travels quickly through the "G.I" tract, leaving little time to spoil and incite disease within the body.
Fiber deficient. Fiber absorbs unwanted, excess fats; cleans the intestines; provides bulk and aids in peristalsis. Plant food is high in fiber content; meat, poultry and dairy products have none.
Body wastes. Food from animals contain their waste, including adrenaline, uric and lactic acid, etc., Before adding ketchup, the biggest contributors to the "flavor profile" of a hamburger are the leftover blood and urine.
Excess protein. The average American eats 400% of the RDA for protein. This causes excess nitrogen in the blood that creates a host of long-term health problems.
Longevity. To increase ones risk of getting degenerative disease means decreasing ones chance to live a naturally long healthy life. Huzas and other peoples with large centenarian populations maintain lifestyles that are relatively meat free.
people with a higher IQ are more likely to choose to be vegetarians.
Correct. And it's no surprise at all.
Have you seen people today? Nobody cares about the environment, not enough to give up individual luxuries.
Yes, this seems to be the case. Everyone wants everyone else to change and adapt but few people want to actually change themselves.
Cook your meat properly, not an issue
Eating dead worms and parastites - even cooked - is not something most people find pleasant. But I guess the sheep bury their head in the sand.
less cruelty to animals. Again, people just don't care.
Yes, again, this seems to be the case.
In addition, I don't think there's a strong social drive to change. Disparage it and call it "sheep mentality" if you must, but at its core humans are social creatures who pick up habits and methods from the culture around them.
Absolutely. It's no wonder that there's such a strong link between high IQ and vegetarianism. It takes a lot of intelligence and mental awareness to "break free" of societal/cultural conditions and make a change which benefits your health and the environment.