TO EAT MEAT OR NOT TO EAT MEAT?
Published Jul 31, 2017
Updated Aug 14, 2017
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I am ruined. I watched a documentary on Netflix that ruined my life. It is called, “What the Health”. To summarise, it basically condemns eating all animal related products – meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, everything. How am I supposed to live?
According to the documentary, meat, chicken, fish and all animal-related products mostly contain antibiotics and other stuff that are detrimental to our health. They say, just by avoiding meat, a lot of health diseases like heart disease, arthritis and diabetes could be cured. Wow!
They even had patients who stopped eating animal products and got healed (in just two weeks!) to proof it.
After watching the documentary, my mind was messed up. I started seeing everything meat as evil. I even went into my fridge and threw out my leftover soya which I had planned to use in making some West African style shawarma. Now that the effect of the documentary is no longer as heavy, I WANT IT BACK.
But seriously, it scared me from meat. I almost declined buying ground beef to make meatballs requested by my girls. And even when I went shopping, I was reading labels like crazy, making sure to buy the ones that read, “NO ADDED ANTIBIOTICS, NO GROWTH HORMONES, RESPONSIBLY RAISED, OUR FARMERS PLEDGE TO GROW PRODUCTS RESPONSIBLY, bla bla bla”.
But how can you be sure that what is written on the packs are true? According to the documentary, animal products are a huge problem no matter how the animals are grown. And they insist that our bodies don’t need them, And that we can thrive on plant-based diets.
Now, I don’t think this applies to some of our African countries in which we still have “Nganakohs” (herdsmen) chasing cows to go eat natural grass. I believe the meat and milk that comes from those cows is pure and unadulterated.
But in the western world, most meat is not natural due to all sorts of things (antibiotics, hormones, etc) that are fed to animals which we humans in turn consume secondarily when we eat meat, sausage, bacon, milk, cheese and all. All these statistics make me want to become a vegetarian ya. But it’s not something I ever dreamed I would even consider. I mean, what will happen to all recipes including meat, fish, chicken or eggs?
Then with my Christian mind, I started wondering if God wanted us to eat only plants. Because when he made Adam and Eve, he put them in the garden of Eden to eat from it and to live.
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,” Genesis 2:16 (ESV)
So eating only plants was God’s initial command to man. But again, after the flood, God told Noah he could eat every living creature.
“2 All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. 3 I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables.” Genesis 9:2-3 (NLT)
Also, Abraham served God meat oo – that’s when he had 3 celestial visitors. He served them a “tender and choice calf” prepared by His servant. And God didn’t say no!
We also see in the Bible how God told Peter to kill and eat.
“Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” Acts 10:13 (NLT)
So according to scripture, meat is permitted. But I have seen people (on TV, no real life examples yet) thrive on plant-based diets and I’m wondering if it’s a route to follow. Maybe I will try it for 30 days or something and see how it goes.
The documentary seriously got me thinking; to eat meat or not to eat meat? They claim that all nutrients we get from animals can be gotten from plants as well. I’m an advocate for moderation but the experts in the documentary say even moderation is not safe because you can’t measure it.
What are your views? Have you watched this documentary or any other one advocating for veganism? Would you readily give up all meat for a plant-based diet? Please share below and I totally recommend you check out the documentary, ‘What the Health” on Netflix when you can. And if you do, please let me know what you think about it.
By the way, today is Monday and the hashtag #MeatlessMonday always trends on Instagram. Off to check out out all the meatless recipes!
Have a beautiful week, my friends.
