We’ve long been taught that lean meats like poultry and fish are good for us and lead to a healthier lifestyle. We’ve also learnt that without meat in our diets, we lost out on a lot of proteins that plants simply don’t have.

But more and more research being conducted around the world by leading universities and health institutes are proving that not only can we get all of our recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals from a plant-based diet, but that eating meat actually leads to a lower quality of life and increased risk of certain disease, such as those associated with the heart.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to cut out all meat from our diets, but rather try and focus on reducing our consumption and eating meat as more of a treat rather than as part of every single meal.

1. Cancer And Meat

The element iron is one that our body needs to work properly, but it doesn’t need a lot of it, any not all iron is created equal. For example, heme iron, which is exclusively found in animal meat, has been isolated as a significant contributor to the initiation of specific cancers, such as colon cancer. Eating meat on a daily basis means a higher intake of heme iron and can lead to an increase of cancer.

2. High Salt Content

It’s becoming much more well known that too much salt intake can lead to vascular problems. One of the reasons for this is because our body doesn’t like having too much sodium in the blood, and it’ll increase blood pressure to try and clear all the sodium out.

But removing salt from cooking isn’t enough. A good example is the poultry industry, who will inject saltwater into their birds during processing in order to bulk them up, adding to the price of the meat but adding more salt than our kidneys are able to successfully deal with.

3.Various Diseases

Studies have found that more than 90% of poultry is infected with Salmonella, the bacteria that’s strong enough to put even the healthiest of us in hospital.

Salmonella builds up due to the conditions of how commercial chicken is raised, where staying in cramped spaces amongst each other and not being able to have any sun during the day can lead to a massive surge in bacteria, especially in the faeces that builds up around them. Sometimes it’s a better idea to eat a salad while we enjoy playing at our favourite roulette Canada gaming sites.

4. Further Cancer Risks

Cancer is currently skyrocketing in the western world but is virtually unheard of in societies that eat a whole food, plant-based diet. Dairy, which many feel to be about as innocuous as possible, has become something of a villain in recent years.

Milk is an excellent example. Milk is created by a mother cow for her calf, but because calves tend to grow around 40 times faster than human babies, they’re absolutely packed with growth hormones. These same hormones can cause our cells to grow exponentially as a result, most commonly known as cancer.

While it can be hard to give up eating meat every day, there are some serious, research-based reasons that cutting down can have long term health benefits.