When you're enjoying a steak, did you know blue-eyed, high-nosed Europeans and Americans have developed a taste for Chinese tofu?
When your breakfast consists of bread, milk, ham, and fried eggs—or fried dough sticks, meat pies, pan-fried buns, and ramen noodles—and your lunch features takeout fast food, pizza, pasta, hotpot lamb, or roast duck,and dine on burgers, fried chicken, steak, pork chops, lobster, seafood, and desserts for dinner—do you know why blue-eyed, high-nosed Westerners primarily eat brown rice, whole wheat flour, soy products, and fruits and vegetables?
So, what are the health hazards of meat consumption?
I. Toxicity
The extreme fear and immense suffering animals endure during slaughter cause significant biochemical changes in their bodies, leading to toxins spreading throughout their systems and completely contaminating the carcass.According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, toxins within animal bodies—including uric acid, various toxic secretions, hormones, waste products, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs)—permeate the bloodstream and bodily tissues. It thus offers a pertinent observation: "Compared to the 56% impure water content in meat, protein derived from nuts, legumes, and grains is demonstrably purer."
Just as our bodies become ill when experiencing fear, anger, or stress, animals undergo significant biochemical changes when subjected to extreme danger. When facing slaughter and struggling desperately for survival, their bodies abnormally secrete multiple hormones—particularly adrenaline. After death, these hormones remain in the meat, subsequently poisoning the body tissues of those who consume it.American nutritional authorities have long pointed out: animal carcasses are substances rich in toxins.
II. Carcinogens
A recent study involving 50,000 vegetarians caused a major stir in cancer research. It revealed that the incidence of cancer among this vegetarian group was surprisingly low. Compared to individuals of the same age and gender, the rates of various cancers were significantly reduced in this population.The report concluded: "They clearly live longer." Below are several simple and easily understandable reasons:
1. Phenylpyrazine
Did you know that 2 pounds of fried steak (1 pound = 0.45 kilograms) contains the same amount of the carcinogen phenylpyrazine as 600 cigarettes?Experiments prove: Mice fed phenylpurine develop stomach cancer and leukemia (blood cancer)!
2. Methylcholanthrene
Meat fats form "methylcholanthrene" at high temperatures, and cooking meat typically requires high heat (vegetable oils do not produce this substance even when overheated).Feeding this substance to small animals causes cancer. Even small amounts of methylcholanthrene sensitize animals to other carcinogens, increasing their cancer risk.
3. Chemical Additives
It's common knowledge that animal meat cannot be stored long-term without spoiling, turning an unhealthy bluish-gray color.To prevent this unsightly appearance, butchers add nitrates, nitrites, or other preservatives to meat, which restore its bright red color. Recent studies consistently indicate that these substances are largely carcinogenic. Dr. William L. King, a cancer researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, states: "I wouldn't even feed nitrate-containing products to my cat."
4. Meat Consumption and Cancer
Scientists in the UK and US compared gut microbes between meat-eaters and vegetarians, finding significant differences. Chemicals produced when microbes in meat-eaters interact with digestive juices are believed to cause cancer. This explains why colorectal cancer is prevalent in meat-heavy regions like North America and Western Europe, yet rare in plant-based societies like India.Scots consume 20% more meat than the English, yet their colorectal cancer rates rank among the highest globally. III. Chemical Toxins 1. Pesticides The natural food intake process can be explained through the food chain:Plants absorb sunlight, air, water, and nutrients to sustain life. Animals consume plants, while larger animals (humans) prey on smaller animals, placing meat consumption at the apex of the food chain. Today, most global farmlands employ toxic chemicals—pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, growth hormones, etc.—to control pests and boost yields. These toxins accumulate in animals that feed on plants and grass.
For example, DDT sprayed on farmland as an insecticide is a potent poison. Scientists believe it can cause cancer, infertility, or severe liver disease. DDT and similar pesticides accumulate in the fat of animals and fish, and once stored, they are difficult to break down.Therefore, when cattle or sheep consume grass or feed containing any pesticide, most of it accumulates within their bodies. Consequently, when you eat meat, you ingest the essence of DDT along with other toxic chemicals accumulated in the animal's system.
As the final link in the food chain, humans become the ultimate consumers, highly concentrated with various pesticides, toxins, and harmful substances.Experiments conducted by Iowa State University show that meat contains at least 13 times more DDT than vegetables, fruits, or grass. Most of the DDT accumulated in the human body comes from meat in the diet.To accelerate animal growth, promote fattening, and enhance meat color and texture, livestock are often forced to consume massive quantities of chemicals. To maximize meat yields for profit, animals are subjected to forced feeding and injections of hormones, appetite stimulants, antibiotics, sedatives, and chemically formulated feed mixtures designed to stimulate growth.The New York Times reported: "The hidden pollution and toxicity pose a significant potential risk to meat consumers. Residual pesticides, nitrates, hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals are 'invisible killers.'By July 18, 1971, most of these chemicals had been classified as carcinogens. In fact, many animals died from these drugs before they were even slaughtered."
When farmland is converted into animal feedlots, most animals never see sunlight. They spend their entire lives in cramped, oppressive, and harsh conditions, ending in a miserable death.The Chicago Tribune once reported on conditions in high-efficiency chicken farms: "The top tier is used for hatching eggs. Then the chicks undergo growth stimulation: medication, force-feeding. They gobble their food in cramped cages, never exercising or breathing fresh air. As they grow larger, they are moved to cages on the next tier below, continuing layer by layer until they reach the bottom tier, where they are slaughtered.Such unnatural growth processes not only disrupt the animals' natural biochemical balance but also distort their innate behaviors. Farm animals are not only physically unhealthy (sickly) but also mentally abnormal, often exhibiting stupor and psychosis (abnormalities). More tragically, human diseases like malignant tumors and fetal deformities inevitably arise from the ignorant consumption of these animals.
IV. Animal Diseases
Another danger meat-eaters face is that animals frequently contract diseases, especially those in intensive farming operations. These illnesses often go undetected by meat inspectors or processors. When a part of an animal develops cancer or tumors, the diseased section is removed, and the remaining portion is still sold in the market.Worse still, tumor-affected parts are ground into meat for hot dogs, ham, or fillings. In one U.S. region, daily inspections reveal 25,000 tumor-ridden cattle carcasses entering the market. Scientists have discovered that feeding diseased animal livers to fish causes cancer in the fish.Alarmingly, the prevalence of blood cancer among animals in farming environments is rising. It is now a fact—not sensational exaggeration—that not a single animal in intensive factory farms is healthy and normal.
V. Cadaver Toxin
After an animal is slaughtered, proteins in its carcass coagulate and produce self-digesting enzymes. Unlike plants, which have rigid cell walls and simple circulatory systems, causing slow decay (readers can observe this by placing raw meat and an apple or other fruit side-by-side at home), a denatured substance called "cadaver toxin" quickly emerges in meat.