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dissent1977 Donating Member (795 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:21 PM
Original message
Big Study Links Red Meat Diet to Cancer
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday June 15, 2005
The Guardian

International scientists yesterday delivered a long-awaited verdict on red meat, concluding in a definitive study of the eating habits of half a million people that beef, lamb, pork, veal and their processed varieties such as ham and bacon, increase the risk of bowel cancer.

Those who eat two portions a day - equivalent to a bacon sandwich and a fillet steak - increase their risk of bowel cancer by 35% over those who eat just one portion a week, the study found. The World Health Organisation's international agency for research on cancer (IARC) called for everybody to eat more fish and less meat.

The Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK and IARC funded the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (Epic) study, which monitored the diets of men and women in 10 countries for five years. It found that eating fibre, in the form of vegetables, fruit and wholegrain cereals, lessened the risk of meat eating and that fish, eaten at least every other day, was protective.

"People have suspected for some time that high levels of red and processed meat increase the risk of bowel cancer, but this is one of the largest studies worldwide and the first from Europe of this type to show a strong relationship," said Sheila Bingham, one of the authors, from the MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit in Cambridge.

More:http://society.guardian.co.uk/cancer/story/0,8150,1506801,00.html
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Bush_Eats_Beef Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:24 PM
Response to Original message
1. "Note to self...reduce beef intake to one of these per day"


:evilgrin:

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Raster Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:34 PM
Response to Reply #1
7. I would kill for an I&O up here in the Seattle area....
last time in Vegas we made a special run for double-doubles.
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shanti Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #7
27. animal style!
:-)
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K8-EEE Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:10 PM
Response to Reply #7
77. My Vegetarian Daughter Orders It With Everything BUT the Burger, LOL...
She loves In & Out.
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kurtyboy Donating Member (968 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:24 AM
Response to Reply #1
14. I think a Double Double is, well, double!
That is, two servings of redmeat, plus the added carcinogens from the fried potatoes.

Me likey a lot.....
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SW FL Dem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:44 PM
Response to Reply #1
73. Damn why did you have to do that?
There are no IN-N-OUTS within 2500 miles of me. I have to wait until I visit family in July to enjoy one of their burgers on a fresh baked buns with hand leafed lettuce and a slice of tomato that doesn't taste like cardboard, not to mention their fries which are hand sliced and made fresh daily.
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ElectroPrincess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:24 PM
Response to Original message
2. Hey, the Bovine Liberation Front is happy to hear this ...
Eat more chicken? Indeed!
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GoddessOfGuinness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:26 PM
Response to Original message
3. Big Study Links Life to Death
Can't have one without the other, it seems...
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:48 AM
Response to Reply #3
31. This is more like linking death to death
He who lives by the slaughterhouse shall die by the colon cancer.

:)

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

david
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KurtNYC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:20 PM
Response to Reply #3
41. I don't see cause and effect in that article
only correlation. There are still some nomadic peoples that eat meat exclusively. The Inuit's in Canada eat:

Caribou, geese, seals, whales and arctic char

And yet studies there showed that their risk of heart disease increased greatly when they shifted to a more mainstream modern diet.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/news/?/news/2001/09/21/inuit_diet010921

Colon cancer correlates strongly with alcohol consumption and what the study is seeing may be more complex than a direct link from red meat to these cancers. Humans have eaten meat for millenia so I think the threshold of proving that meat suddenly became dangerous in and of itself is higher than just showing a correlation.
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GoddessOfGuinness Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:33 PM
Response to Reply #41
43. One day they're going to do a study that proves
that different people require different diets; and those who are most at risk for an untimely diet-related death are those who listen to diet researchers more than their own bodies.
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The Stranger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:23 PM
Response to Reply #3
42. Ah, yes. Natural Selection at work!
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Ilsa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:27 PM
Response to Original message
4. More fish? What about mercury and other toxins? eom
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tjdee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:28 PM
Response to Original message
5. Psst. Guess what? We're all gonna die.
I'm so sick of these studies. Eggs are good! No, bad! No, good, but only if you eat them on Tuesdays and Thursdays and follow them with a fish lunch every full moon!

Everything you like to eat is bad!

Also, I really hate fish. Does that make me a bad person?
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shraby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:32 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. One year at Thanksgiving time they
took cranberries off the market because studies showed they cause cancer. :crazy:
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tjdee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:35 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. But never fish....who are the money men behind the fish?
I'm getting a little suspicious, LOL--every time I turn around they're telling me how fantastic fish is.

Who benefits from that?

Who's the brain behind the big fish lobby?

(Um, it is very humid here, LOL. My brain is officially melting.)
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BiggJawn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:52 AM
Response to Reply #8
24. Must be the Liquor Industry.
Example: You could blow compressed "Second-Hand Smoke" down the windpipes of newborns, and it STILL wouldn't kill as many as drunk drivers and drunken abusive spouses do, but WHICH industry is not being sued out of existence by the Federal Gubbmint?

Fish must have as much money as Booze.

Fish has Mercury, but it's safe to eat OCCASIONALY, unless you're Pregnant, then you probably shouldn't even look at the can. Tuna also has PCB's but there's no demonstratable link between Tuna and gut-rot in Humans.

Farm-raised fish is good and it's CHEAP, too! (just what a red-blooded Murkan looks for FIRST in food) Just ignore the Antibiotics, over-crowding pathogens and red colouring in the fishy food....
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XemaSab Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:43 PM
Response to Reply #6
72. I thought cranberries
were good for the bladder.
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shockra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:55 PM
Response to Reply #6
83. They contained weed killer.
Remembering a Berry Scary Thanksgiving

By Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan Published 11/24/2004

Forty-five years ago this week, in November, 1959, most Americans celebrated Thanksgiving sans cranberry sauce. Earlier that month, Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Arthur Fleming had announced that traces of the weed killer aminotriazole--a chemical that caused cancer in rodents--had been found in the cranberry crop. The spokesman urged housewives to "be on the safe side" and refrain from buying cranberries because the rodent data suggested that the "contaminated" cranberries could pose a human cancer risk. New York City's health commissioner, among others, joined the chorus of those who advised "against the use of berries until they could be tested for contamination."

http://www.techcentralstation.com/112404E.html
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:49 AM
Response to Reply #5
32. I guess it's just a question of how many cows we take with us, eh?
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Lilith Velkor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:30 PM
Response to Reply #32
68. Cows or carrots. Life feeds on life.
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:09 PM
Response to Reply #68
76. :) I used to make that argument!
Seems kinda silly to me now, though.

Anyways, if that's the standard you want to go by, you gotta remember the amount of life that a cow destroys in order to make a 1/4 lb burger is many, many, many times that which is actually consumed by the consumer of said burger. E.g. a burger eater is a (life killer)^2.

Not to mention that growing cows is horriffically detrimental to the environment.

david
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:29 PM
Response to Reply #76
79. Screw the rainforest!!
Hack it all down for soybeans to feed cattle!!! Feedlot runoff is of little concern. Methane gas? Eh. And I just don't care that we could feed every single human being on this planet if we didn't produce crops for animals to subsequently be turned into burgers, etc. Famine thins the herd, dammit!!! :sarcasm:
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:56 PM
Response to Reply #79
84. But flvegan, Burgers TASTE GOOD!!!
Isn't that what being a progressive is all about??? Satisfying one's taste buds and damn the torpedoes, environment, health, humanity, animals, pain, rain forests, death, biodiversity, indigenous peoples, unspoiled landscapes, trees, etc.

I mean, the bottom line is, if it's good for the taste buds it's good for America, no?

david
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:04 PM
Response to Reply #84
85. You know, it's sort of like
voting for Bush. I mean, if one really KNOWS what's going on out there, but thinks that Bush is the man anyway. Screw civil liberties, fuck Iraq and our troops, ditch social security, etc, so long as I got my $300 tax kickback a little while ago.

I'm not drawing any parallel to any dems or DUers that eat meat (cuz I know that some folks will think just that), I'm just saying that if, deep down, you know all the evils of something, yet embrace it anyway, for any reason other than absolute need, then well...

Hot damn, but I'm gonna run ANY popularity I might have had right down the ole crapper with this one. Whatever.
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Lilith Velkor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 10:13 AM
Response to Reply #76
89. Oh, I feel ya on that
My thing is that I like venison and love caribou. I'd prefer to see us leaving a lot more land alone for the yummy deer and reindeer. And clean water for tasty fish to swim in.

That's pretty much my thing. My apologies if it grosses you out.

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SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:33 PM
Response to Reply #5
82. Moderation is still the best way..and even if you ate nothing but twigs
you will still die:)
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Dogmudgeon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:38 PM
Response to Original message
9. No one should simply take reports of reports as advice
This article leaves a lot of questions open and falls back into cliches, like "red meat" -- other than "beef", I've never found a generally-agreed-upon definition of "red meat", except that like sex out of wedlock, it's "bad".

I'm interested in the original report. I'm sure the WHO didn't just leave it at that. People around the world eat a tremendous variety of foods.

One thing that dietary epidemiology studies don't address is the interaction of insulin level on disease. Higher glucose levels, for instance, "feed" cancer. If a person has long-term hyperinsulinism or diabetes (II), it would theoretically increase the activity of gluconeogenesis, or the liver's way of making sugar out of protein. Such a process can be very taxing to the body -- it can also be partially controlled by small amounts of alcohol, which may account for the beneficial effects of drinking wine, especially with protein-rich meals. But there has been no work done in this potentially critical area of nutritional and metabolic medicine.

The WHO's advice is probably pretty sound for most people, except for maybe the fish, which often carries toxic metals. My own long-standing advice (originally given to me by a physician) has been to pay attention to what foods make you feel better and worse and healthy and ill, and eat to be healthy.

--p!
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Lydia Leftcoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 03:04 PM
Response to Reply #9
47. Right, and so many kinds of fish are being overfished these days, so
that it's actually more environmentally responsible NOT to eat seafood.
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:30 PM
Response to Reply #47
80. But if the overfishing stops, what excuse will there be to club seals?
I mean, really.
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shockra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:12 PM
Response to Reply #80
86. Fishing also helps kill pesky marine mammals.
Fishing nets kill 1,000 marine mammals daily

By Ed Stoddard

Thu Jun 9, 2:55 AM ET

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Almost 1,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die daily in fishing nets and urgent changes are needed in trawling methods to save nine populations under immediate threat, conservation group WWF said on Thursday.

Its report -- which WWF says is the first assessment of the situation by leading marine scientists -- points to the accidental catching of cetacea in fishing gear as one of the gravest global threats to marine mammals.

"Almost 1,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die every day in nets and fishing gear. That's one every two minutes," said Dr Susan Lieberman, director of WWF's Global Species Programme.

"Some species are being pushed to the brink of extinction. Urgent action is needed," she said.

Air-breathing mammals, dolphins and other cetacea drown if they get trapped underwater by fishing gear -- becoming what the industry refers to as "bycatch."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=570&e=3&u=/nm/20050609/sc_nm/environment_dolphins_dc_1
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:14 PM
Response to Reply #86
87. But...but...but...those big nets have those escape trap doors, just like
regulations say they have to!!! Oh, wait...they tie them shut when they get out to sea. I forgot...

At least only SOME of that "bycatch" sealife is endangered...
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kanrok Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-14-05 11:56 PM
Response to Original message
10. Joe Jackson was right when he sang:
Everything
Everything gives you cancer
Everything
Everything gives you cancer
There’s no cure, there’s no answer
Everything gives you cancer

Don’t touch that dial
Don’t try to smile
Just take this pill
It’s in your file

Don’t work hard
Don’t play hard
Don’t plan for the graveyard
Remember -

Everything
Everything gives you cancer
Everything
Everything gives you cancer
There’s no cure, there’s no answer
Everything gives you cancer

Don’t work by night
Don’t play by day
You’ll feel all right
But you will pay

No caffeine
No protein
No booze or
Nicotine
Remember -
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candy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:14 AM
Response to Original message
11. Ignore all studies---my mantra.
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NashVegas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:43 AM
Response to Reply #11
29. "Your Body Will Tell You What It Needs" - Mine
Seriously. Ever notice how dogs don't need medical studies to tell them when it's time to chew some grass?
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candy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 03:21 PM
Response to Reply #29
50. I like your mantra. You've nailed it.
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0007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #29
66. ....and when its time to eat other dog shit, dogs have no qualms
and dive right in. Some dog are even fond of cat poop.
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Joebert Donating Member (726 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:19 AM
Response to Original message
12. I think back to Woody Allen's "Sleeper"
(Paraphrased from memory...)

Get the smoke deep into your lungs.

What? Cigarettes are bad for you!

No, they're the healthiest thing you can do.
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MisterP Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:21 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. "Trust Us, We're Experts" shows just how hideous industry is:
"oh, everything hurts you" yelled the tobacco companies and chemical companies and...
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Joebert Donating Member (726 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:29 AM
Response to Reply #13
16. Or the infamous...
it only hurts 1/1000 of our customers.

We can afford that level of lawsuit.

Let's do it!
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:50 AM
Response to Reply #12
33. I prefer Annie Hall, "Everything our parents told us was good is bad...
Sun, red meat, college.

:rofl:

:)

david
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shockra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:26 AM
Response to Original message
15. Hey, who needs science?
Everything should be decided by jury.

I'm sure they'd find red meat Not Guilty. :P
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kineneb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:44 AM
Response to Original message
17. And in some locales, breathing can give you cancer.
So I have moderate amounts of a variety of meats, fruits and vegetables and a moderate amount of exercise. Grandma lived to 92. I am not worrying too much.
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dissent1977 Donating Member (795 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:02 AM
Response to Reply #17
18. No, breathing can not give you cancer
Pollutants in the air give you cancer, not the breathing itself. That is a very important distinction.
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:24 AM
Response to Original message
19. Whew- the cognitive dissonance on this thread is as thick as...
second hand smoke in a seedy lounge.

Red meat is simply an unhealthy choice- no two ways about it. Even if you don't care about increasing your risk of a colon resection- or growing obese- you might consider that beef production may well be the single most environmentally destructive practice that mankind engages in....
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Skittles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:53 AM
Response to Reply #19
20. I agree
the same findings have been discovered on a small scale and this kind of nails it - I believe this report is very credible.
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mom cat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:14 AM
Response to Reply #19
21. Does sound a bit like junkies denying an addiction.
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BiggJawn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:57 AM
Response to Reply #19
25. But after the "Beef Council" gets done...
They will retract the results of this study, and all of a sudden Beef will be GOOD for you! 2 servings a DAY!

Any dissonance there?

The government and their corporate owners fuck with and step on the results of these "scientific studies" so damn much I don't trust any of them.

I expect one day that the "Fertilizer Council" will get the FDA to say that studies show that we should all eat a large, wet TURD every day for optimum health....

This isn't about whether Meat is Murder, it's about Corporations manipulating "science" in order to make more money.
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:52 AM
Response to Reply #19
34. We all make choices as to what risks we're willing to take
in life. For some meat is something they're willing to accept the reprocussions for. For others it's cigarettes, others it's fast driving others (me!) it's alcohol.

I guess the funny/odd part is when we try to deny that these things are bad for us.

Your point about the environment is, of course, well taken and dead on.

david
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Lorien Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:11 PM
Response to Reply #19
37. Indeed! I gave it up 10 years ago for those reasons
and more.Rainforest destruction, for example, is primarily due to the "need" for more pastureland and feed for CATTLE-not humans. It takes five times as much land mass to feed a cow as it does to feed a person. The land that is created by leveling rainforests can only support life for 5-10 years, then it becomes barren desert-so humans cut down more. At current destruction rates there will be no more rainforests-none anywhere on earth-by 2045. They are the planet's "lungs", so without them, we won't survive for long. Beef or our own survival-that's the choice, as I see it.

No to mention that American's demand foe beef is so voracious that many slaughterhouses are forced to push through so many animals that large numbers of them are processes alive. Does any living thing DESERVE to be skinned and have it's legs chopped off while it's still conscious? And please-no nose in the air, holier than thou "I care about people-not animals" comments. One NEVER excludes the other-we are all capable or caring for both; it's the very definition of being "humane". Free range organic beef may be more expensive, but at least your chances of getting mad cow disease are far more remote, you won't be ingesting huge quantities of antibiotics and the animal will have been given a better life-and hopefully killed before it is processed.

Another reason I don't eat beef; republicans want me to. The beef and pork industries are as Red as they get.They contribute HUGE sums to the GOP. They get a lot in return too-federal handouts, including the use of federal lands for private pasture. Cattlemen can shoot bison or wolves in our National parks if they stray onto the "borrowed" land where their cattle are grazing. "beef is tasty" is not a good enough reason to support so much corruption, destruction and suffering, IMHO.
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cliss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:14 PM
Response to Reply #19
38. Thanks for clearing the smoke, D.
And I agree with you. If it's not Mad Cow disease, it's cancer. It's simply -- not good for you.

Try Morningstar Farms, or Boca Burgers. There are many, many awesome substitutes for meat nowadays. It tastes great.

I promise you, you will not miss it.
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Lorien Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:16 PM
Response to Reply #38
39. Quorn grounds for tacos
yummy!:9
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Ignis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:05 PM
Response to Reply #39
55. Quorn...my vegan kryptonite!
Why, oh why can't they find a substitute for the egg whites? Sigh....
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:31 PM
Response to Reply #55
81. Tell me about it.
Same thing with most of the Morningstar Farms stuff, too.
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Ignis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 08:01 PM
Response to Reply #81
88. Seriously!
I'm lucky enough to live in Berkeley, where I can get veggie links or whatnot at most breakfast places. Of course, when I charm a waitperson into letting me see the package, it's always Morningstar Farms. And then I have to explain why I don't want the veggie links after all, yadda yadda.

Hell, I'd be happy if I could get a non-Gardenburger most places. Boca rocks the house, anyway. :)
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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 03:27 PM
Response to Reply #38
51. I would miss steak
I could be a vegetarian if I could have a steak every once in awhile.

Is there such a thing as a vegesteakian?
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Ignis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:04 PM
Response to Reply #51
54. It's not a binary switch for every person.
I personally went through many 'shades' of being semi-vegetarian (no beef/lamb/pork, then no chicken, etc.) before I finally became a vegan about 15 years ago.

Any choice you make to reduce your intake of red meat is a good one for the average American who eats the average American diet. Do you have to stop eating red meat cold turkey? Of course not.

But what if you cut down your red meat intake to once per week or once every two weeks? That way, you could have a nice steak or a burger now and then, but you're still doing a great deal to help your health, your colon, your longevity, your karma (YMMV on that one, of course), and even a few animals. :)

There are many 'vegetarians' who eat fish. I say it's a big tent. Test the waters and see how it works for you. If it doesn't work out, then eat as much meat as you need to feel healthy.

Best of luck in whatever you choose.
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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:12 PM
Response to Reply #54
56. I seldom eat red meat
other than steak. I rarely eat a hamburger and I don't use it to make casseroles either. I eat mainly chicken and fish. But I also have lots of vegetarian meals. I love vegetables more than meat. I could easily give up all meat except steak. I eat about one a month. If I could have a steak a month, I could be vegetarian every other day.
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Ignis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:24 PM
Response to Reply #56
63. Well, there you have it.
I dub you a once-a-month-atarian. :) That's 99% healthier than most, so I'd say you're on the right path.

Trust me, when there's a really good vegetarian steak substitute, I'll be the first in line. In the meantime, try Now & Zen's UnSteak-Out, which is decent.
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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:47 PM
Response to Reply #63
65. Will do
Making a note to self to check that out next time I am in the store.
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CAcyclist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:49 PM
Response to Reply #19
44. I Agree - Cars and Cows
In my opinion, the two most destructive agents in the world today.
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Media_Lies_Daily Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:23 AM
Response to Original message
22. Too late now! Mad Cow has spread throughout the system since 1992....
...and scaring people with the connection between beef and cancer is not going to scare people into not eating beef.
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 07:41 AM
Response to Original message
23. And 2 weeks from now, Big Beef will release an "independent" study
stating how beneficial beef is. Most folks will buy it hook, line and sinker, as it's what folks want to hear.

Mad Cow...cancer...it's a good time to be a veg*.

Beef: It's what's rotting in your colon.
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BiggJawn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #23
26. And next year, BEEF will be the base of the "Pyramid"
Instead of grains.

At least they're not yet buying "scientists" to write studies "proving" that Veggies are poison, Whole Wheat cause impotence and Curry makes you want to join Al-Ka-Seltzah...

But isn't there a group that's already trying to convince us that Soy makes you Sick?
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Stuckinthebush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:19 AM
Response to Original message
28. Wow! That vegetarian diet is looking better and better...
Don't want bowel cancer!
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progressivebydesign Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:45 AM
Response to Original message
30. Glad I gave up red meat years ago....
I admit to occasional burger (once or twice a year), and the occasional breakfast link (3 times a year).. but other than that, poutry, but only 50% of the time. I'd like to be vegetarian, but it's not easy to convert when the family you cook for and eat with eat poultry.
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #30
35. Serious question: can you really eat red meat only twice a year?
and not get sick? I had been under the impression that if you gave it up for any serious length of time your body would have a very hard time digesting it.

Curious what kinda length of time it really is or if it's just a myth.

david
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Beaverhausen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 03:13 PM
Response to Reply #35
49. I ate some after giving it up- it did make me sick
I had gone about 2 years without eating any beef but was at a party where I kinda couldn't turn it down.

I could actually feel my digestive system try and digest it for hours. and I didn't feel right for days. yuck. no more!!!!

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Lorien Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 03:53 PM
Response to Reply #49
52. Same thing happened to me
about a year after I stopped eating red meat. I was served a steak at a dinner and ate less than half of it, but I still felt awful for hours afterwards.

There was a doctor on Oprah recently that had a computer animation of how food is digested. He showed that meat is NOT digested-it just rots in the gut until it's gone. There were lots of "ewwwwsss" in the audience! Wonder if Oprah will get sued by the GOP beef council again for that one?
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Ignis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:15 PM
Response to Reply #35
58. Annectdotal evidence:
Full disclosure: I've been a vegan for 15 years.

Within the first two years of being a vegetarian who still ate fish, I was able to sneak in a bit of meat if I really, really wanted to do so. I would feel pretty queasy and disgusted almost immediately afterwards, but I'm willing to chalk this up to moral qualms.

After a few years of eating no meat, however, I lost my ability to digest it. (There are times when you just can't tell that a dish has meat in it, and those serving the food aren't always 100% accurate or 100% honest about whether or not a dish contains ANY meat.) Almost immediately after eating a dish that contained even a trivial amount of meat, my breath would begin to stink horribly and I would become very sick to my stomach. While I'm still willing to attribute part of this response to psychosomatics, it's worth noting that I had the very same reaction when I did NOT know that a dish contained meat until much later.

On a side note, I find that some people (perhaps those with more of a genetic predisposition to lactose intolerance) become weaned from cow's milk much more quickly than others. I know some vegans who can still sneak in a bit of dairy now and then without ill effects, but I find that my tongue becomes coated, my breath smells awful, and my stomach gets gassy almost immediately after eating/drinking somethink that contains dairy.

Hope that helps.
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progressivebydesign Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:16 PM
Response to Reply #35
59. I always wonder that.... but no evidence of it with me.
I think it might depend upon how much you eat. I will either a very slim burger (like 1/8 lb.), or cut one in half to eat, and give the rest to the dogs. I think I can definitely feel some difference in digesting it, as it does make me feel a bit sluggish. I just have to give in to that cooking burger smell once in a blue moon. Tho.. as much as the smell of barbequed steaks seems scrumptious, haven't had anything like that in probably 10 years. I stopped eating any type of fast food burger around that time.. I have really noticed a difference amongst myself and friends and family near my age.. I look healthier (of course I don't smoke and drink a 1/4 glass of wine every so often), so that might have something to do with it.
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sendero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 12:06 PM
Response to Original message
36. The truth that nobody wants to hear...
... is that genetic predisposition probably trumps all other factors by a wide margin. :)
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Massachusetts Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 01:11 PM
Response to Reply #36
40. Agreed!
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northzax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 02:23 PM
Response to Reply #36
45. and luckily
the Pill reduces the chance for women by and equivalent margian. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1273442.stm

Statistics are fun, aren't they? guess what, people, there are only four things in the world that will kil you. Homicide (including suicide) misfortune (accidents), heart failure/disease, cancer. that's it. one of those four things will kill you. guaranteed.


can't fight city hall. and any excesses in your life will lead to an increased risk of any of the four. bad luck.

smoke 'em if you gots em.
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Lilith Velkor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:38 PM
Response to Reply #36
70. I doubt that
I think it has more to do with radioactivity, but that can cause genetic glitches, so maybe we agree. I dunno.
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napi21 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 02:28 PM
Response to Original message
46. IF this report were true, Colon Cancer would be the biggest killer
in the western world! It's not!!! Too much of anything is harmful, and red meat is no different!

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Beaverhausen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:12 PM
Response to Reply #46
57. I have a history of colon cancer in my family
that is one reason I don't eat beef.

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Coventina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:19 PM
Response to Reply #46
60. It would be if it were not for heart disease
another product of red meat consumption.

The heart disease has a way of taking more people out first, before the cancer can set in.
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FlaGranny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 03:13 PM
Response to Original message
48. Eat more fish
for mercury?? Didn't someone just recommend eating the kind of fish (fatty) that has all those protective qualities no more than two or three times a week?

How in the world did humanity ever reach this point? Everything should have killed us by now.
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BigBearJohn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:04 PM
Response to Original message
53. WE HAD NO PROBLEM TIL THEY STARTED FEEDING CATTLE CORN
Cows' stomachs evolved to eat GRASS.
Grass-fed cows manufacture their own own Omega-3 oils
When we started feeding them corn, a host of illness started
cropping up in civilization.
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FlaGranny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:21 PM
Response to Reply #53
62. Yes, indeed.
The only red meat I eat any more is grass finished bison.
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shockra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:28 PM
Response to Reply #53
67. Chicken poop doesn't help, either.
Are humans endangered if cattle dine on chicken manure?

August 23, 1997

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As federal food safety inspectors search for the source of E. coli bacteria that contaminated ground beef from a Nebraska processing plant, a serious new threat to the U.S. beef supply is being overlooked, according to an upcoming article in U.S. News and World Report.

Increasingly, American cattle farmers feed their herds chicken manure, which health officials warn could contain dangerous bacteria that ends up in ground meat eaten by humans, the magazine reports in its September 1 issue. The waste that is mixed with livestock feed is a less expensive alternative to using grains and hay.

The practice is increasingly being used by cattle farmers in regions where there are large poultry operations -- and thus a ready supply of cheap manure -- such as California, the South and the mid-Atlantic states.

The U.S. News article cites as an example Dardanelle, Arkansas, farmer Lamar Carter, who recently bought 745 tons of manure from local chicken houses to feed his 800 head of cattle.

"My cows are as fat as butterballs," Carter said. "If I didn't have chicken litter, I'd have to sell half my herd. Other feed's too expensive."

http://www.cnn.com/US/9708/23/chicken.manure/

Chicken manure often contains campylobacteria and salmonella bacteria, which can make humans sick. Intestinal parasites, veterinary drug residues and heavy toxic metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury are also often present in the waste, the article says.
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Lilith Velkor Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:40 PM
Response to Reply #53
71. WE HAD NO PROBLEM TIL THEY STARTED FEEDING CATTLE CATTLE
Just A hunch...
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ecoalex Donating Member (718 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:06 PM
Response to Reply #53
74. Organic Grass Fed Beef
Is healthy for all. Omega 3 fats, and other good factors are in organic grass fed beef.
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Robb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:20 PM
Response to Original message
61. Er, math check:
Let me get this straight.

I have one serving of beef each week, I have X risk of bowel cancer.
I have 24 servings (!) each week, I have 1.35X risk of bowel cancer.

...Increase intake of substance by factor of 24, risk goes up by factor of 0.35.

Eat 24 times your normal bran intake, see how good you feel. :eyes:
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DoveTurnedHawk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 04:45 PM
Response to Original message
64. This Is the Only Thing That Would Give Me Pause, Not PETA Nonsense (eom)
DTH
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Redstone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 05:32 PM
Response to Original message
69. Well, now I'm worried. Guess I'll have a nice big steak
to help me relax.

Redstone
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nine30 Donating Member (593 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:09 PM
Response to Original message
75. Good !
I suppose there is some justice after all.
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4_Legs_Good Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jun-15-05 06:12 PM
Response to Reply #75
78. :) Nice!
and Yowza! at the sametime!

:)

david
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