Meat consumption, health, and the environment

Reducing meat consumption has multiple benefits for the world's health.

the excellent study of the effects of meat consumption on mortality among participants of the large National Institutes of Health–AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) Diet and Health Study cohort reiterate the concerns echoed in other major reviews and studies on the adverse effects of excessive meat intake. 1 However, I am taking a different tact and am focusing...

Processed meat consumption and lung health: more evidence for harm.

In the recent Global Burden of Disease study [1], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the third most common cause of death worldwide in 2010. The predominant risk factor for COPD in the developed world is cigarette smoking, but up to one-third of COPD patients have never smoked, suggesting that other factors are involved. Relatively little attention has been paid to these other fac...

Public health implications of meat production and consumption.

The high level of meat and saturated fat consumption in the USA and other high-income countries exceeds nutritional needs and contributes to high rates of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and some cancers. Affluent citizens in middle- and low-income countries are adopting similar high-meat diets and experiencing increased rates of these same chronic diseases. T...

Environment and health: 1. Population, consumption and human health.

Rationalizing meat consumption. The 4Ns.

Recent theorizing suggests that the 4Ns - that is, the belief that eating meat is natural, normal, necessary, and nice - are common rationalizations people use to defend their choice of eating meat. However, such theorizing has yet to be subjected to empirical testing. Six studies were conducted on the 4Ns. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrated that the 4N classification captures the vast majority (83...